


stuck with you

by taoris



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Historical AU, M/M, Mutual Pining, Prince Kenma and Soldier Kuroo, warning for mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28293594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taoris/pseuds/taoris
Summary: “Look, Kuroo. I know you’ve been a soldier all your life and you would do everything for Kenma. But what about you? What future lies there for you when Kenma becomes a forgotten Prince of this Kingdom? Will you be someone who would keep following him around or would you just be rid of when Kenma decides he no longer needs you?”Kuroo’s arm reaches for the sherry but Bokuto is faster, snatching the goblet away from him. He takes a long sigh and looks at his cousin, the little smile on his face unfaltering. “Then so be it. I’m at his highness’ disposal.”Bokuto only stares at him. “Just admit that you like the Prince, you idiot.”
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56
Collections: Kuroken Christmas Exchange 2020





	stuck with you

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Kuroken Xmas Exchange gift for @nargles_exist! Hope you'd like my poor attempt at historical au. I just wanted to give you a light and sappy mutual pining Prince Kenma and Soldier Kuroo. They're so precious together!

Kuroo tries to drown himself in sherry, its dry yet peculiarly sweet flavor leaves a very distinct aftertaste to his mouth. It’s pretty good because this way he can distract himself from Bokuto’s judging stare, his cousin looking a decade older the way his thick gray brows furrow at Kuroo. He takes another swig from his cup, downing a good quarter of its content and burping a second later.

“You’ve really got to be kidding me, Tetsurou.” Bokuto says, unable to take a sip from his drink.

“I’m not lying, I’m having my sweet time with this wine.” He replies. Sherry is pretty expensive back in the palace, so having bottles of it down in this town for half its price is worth the travel he’s done.

“It’s an imperial crime!” Bokuto shouts and nearby heads swing in their direction. Kuroo shoots his cousin a warning look as he smiles at the other guests at the inn, shrugging to them pretending as if he has no idea of what his cousin is talking about.

“Tone it down, big guy.” He says. “It’s an imperial  _ order _ . Not a  _ crime _ . It is his highness’ order to  _ me _ , his  _ personal guard _ to assist him in—”

“Running away from his own marriage. I get it. Which is still a crime.” Bokuto clears out.

“I am of service to Kenma.” Another swig takes Kuroo’s head spinning a little which he shakes out with a little wiggle of his head. “I will do whatever he tells me to do.”

“Even at the expense of having the tip of a prosecutor's sword to your head? You have been really way too twisted with the Prince’s little antics. You’re of service to the flag, not to the Prince, bastard.”

“Correction: I am doing this for my  _ best friend _ , the Prince. Not because he pays me well. The money is a great incentive. But I am doing this to help my friend.”

Bokuto rolls his eyes. It has been a while since he heard from Kuroo. His cousin’s been one of the celebrities in their small town, given how he’s the Prince’s most trusted Knight and personal guard. Now, he finds the person everyone looks up to begging him for horses in order to help the Prince escape the Kingdom. It’s a big mess Kuroo is about to get himself in, and Bokuto pretty much knows there’s no helping Kuroo back out from this plan of his. No matter how much his cousin denies it, the man’s pretty wrapped around the Prince’s finger. Like a little puppy.

“You know you won’t ever be able to get back here the moment you run away from this place, right?” 

Kuroo gives him a torn look. “My duty is heavier than my blood ties.”

Orphaned at an early age, Bokuto’s father who raised him has signed him up as a squire in training as young as seven. Kuroo became the Prince’s friend at eight, earned his knighthood at fifteen, and was titled the Prince’s personal guard weeks after earning his title. All his life, there is only a fragment of family, relatives, townspeople he knew of. It’s not a big deal whether he would never see some barely familiar places again. All his life he has been serving Kenma. What’s a change of place, right?

“Look, Kuroo. I know you’ve been a soldier all your life and you would do everything for Kenma. But what about you? What future lies there for you when Kenma becomes a forgotten Prince of this Kingdom? Will you be someone who would keep following him around or would you just be rid of when Kenma decides he no longer needs you?”

Kuroo’s arm reaches for the sherry but Bokuto is faster, snatching the goblet away from him. He takes a long sigh and looks at his cousin, the little smile on his face unfaltering. “Then so be it. I’m at his highness’ disposal.”

Bokuto only stares at him. “Just admit that you like the Prince, you idiot.”

“Now, where are the horses?” Kuroo smiles and avoids the topic entirely.

* * *

His wedding tunic took nine weeks to prepare. Kenma pulls up the clothes and stares at its intensive detailing work. The cloth is quite thick for flax linen, and the brocade accent on the trimmings appears to be silver-gilt with how bright it shines at a bare reflection of light. 

He feels bad for Akinori who has to face his mother’s endless blusters about how she could have gotten another tailor if it isn’t for generations’ worth of tradition with the Konohas being the royal family’s tailor. The Queen quite had a way with her mouth, so Kenma would always try to comfort Akinori who’s new to tailoring whenever he will be met with such harsh treatment.

Kenma starts thinking about how his mother would demand payment back from Akinori the moment she finds out that the royal prince has run away, he imagines Akinori’s pale face, too scared to talk back to the Queen, losing more blood on it than usual. Kenma feels horrible because he knows would not be able to stop the guilt from creeping into his chest. His thoughts get disturbed as he hears a knock on the door of his room.

“Come in.” Kenma orders and Kuroo’s jet black hair peaks from the door. He jolts as he realizes his guard has entered his quarters with the wedding tunic on his hands. 

“Your highness,” his server smiles, excitement apparent on his face. “The horses are ready.”

“I —”  Kenma puts back the tunic into its box haphazardly, not bothering to fold it back neatly. “How is it?”

Kuroo looks at him in confusion. “Pardon?”

“How did... How did it go with your cousin?” Kenma tries to laugh off being caught off guard. As usual, Kuroo’s way too dashing that it makes him feel so embarrassed to be caught by him looking so weak.  _ Gushing over your wedding tunic, huh? _ He imagines Kuroo telling him. He wouldn’t have known how to react if Kuroo teased him like that. “You told me it would’ve been hard to convince him.”

“Well I’ve got my way around my people. It barely made me sweat.” Kuroo walks next to him, his eyes now on the container of his tunic.

Silence permeated between them for a couple of seconds. Kenma feels heavily guilty of ever thinking that he feels bad for the clothing. It’s Akinori he feels sorry for, doesn’t he? He tries convincing himself. He doesn’t really want to get married, does he?

“It must be hard.” Kuroo breaks the silence first. “Leaving everything. Losing your title. Are you sure you still want to do this, Kenma?”

There’s a different kind of warmth that emanates through him, from his cheeks, down to the entirety of his chest, then all the way to his stomach, and to the tad bit of skin on his toes whenever Kuroo would address him by his given name instead of his title. When Kenma looks up he meets Kuroo’s eyes, gentle black orbs looking through his soul, as if speaking to him that he knows what Kenma is thinking and feeling.

“We can always just negotiate with his majesty to save another year for your marriage.” Kuroo continues.

Kenma looks away, unable to withstand Kuroo’s stare a second longer. “I don’t want to get married.” He says as he picks up the box of his wedding clothing from the bed.

Kuroo turns to him and tries to get the box from his hands, fingers brushing his, and Kenma jolts out of surprise. He jumps from the sudden electrocuting feeling of Kuroo’s skin on the very tip of his finger. He mentally slaps himself from how absurd he’s acting and curses himself for the growing consciousness of everything about his friend.

Kuroo catches the box and smiles at him, the usual sly smile whenever he’s saving the Prince from doing something ridiculous, as if saying,  _ It’s okay, I got this. I’ve always got you. _

Kenma looks away and tries to busy himself, taking the burlap another personal guard, Hinata, has sown into a drawstring where the Prince is able to put some silvers and gold coins to keep him and Kuroo going for a couple of days during their ‘expedition.’

“How lonely would it be not to get married.” Kuroo says as he places the box into a nearby dresser. Opening the lead and folding the clothing neatly. 

“Lonely?” Kenma scuffs. “Being alone isn’t lonely. I just prefer to explore on my own and—”

“Live like a normal human being.” Kuroo supplies. “Normal human beings get married too, Kenma. They also build a family and a future together.”

Another surge of warmth passes through him, as if it’s the first time Kuroo’s ever spoken his name. “Are you telling me this because you want to get married, Kuroo?”

Kuroo scoffs at him and looks at him, eyes wide. “What?”

“If you don’t want to join me, it’s fine. I told you. I can manage on my own.” Kenma smiles. “You don’t have to come with me. You can go build your own family and start your own future.”

Kuroo walks to Kenma, raises a hand and places it on top of the Prince’s head. The Prince looks up, realizing that his childhood friend’s almost a foot taller than he is. It just seems like yesterday when they both shared the same height.

“If this sword ever breaks, if this flag ever burns, and if this Kingdom collapses. I shall never be found with a weapon withdrawn, for my oath is deeper than my scars. My loyalty is to the royalty than my own blood. I, Kuroo Tetsurou, fifteen years of age—”

“—just last autumn.” Kenma supplies and they both laugh remembering Kuroo’s vow during his ‘coronation.’

“Just last autumn, yes. Swear my undying loyalty to the Prince and the flag.” Kuroo’s grin is so wide despite feeling shy over the vow of duty he wrote ten years ago. It’s not the commonly used vow in oath of duty to the royalty, but his silly fifteen year old self knew no better. He was loyal, determined, brimming with so much joy to serve his childhood friend of years, finally becoming his entrusted guard. He was going to stay by his side, no matter what. And even ten years later, there’s nothing else Kuroo wants to do but stay by Kenma’s side.

“God, that was such a horrible vow.” Kenma walks to his bedpost, unable to stay one more second of being a width of hair away from Kuroo. It burns his chest so bad that he feels there might be something wrong with him. “Can’t imagine how bad your wedding vow will be.”

“I’ve changed, okay? I’m pretty sure my skills have improved since that day. And besides, who told you I’d get married and abandon my duty? I shall die your soldier, your highness.”

His very words tug at Kenma’s chest. He shall die his soldier. Kenma doesn’t deserve loyalty as great as this. He, for sure, does not deserve Kuroo. “God, see? You’re too much of a romantic.”

* * *

It’s no strange thing for the Prince and his personal assistant to go hunting when the snow melts during winter. It’s only been two days since the last winter storm raged the mountains but Kenma couldn’t wait another day. The colder it becomes, the harder it is for the hunters to go after them. The thin layer of diminishing snow will be enough to cover their tracks, and he’s pretty sure that he and Kuroo could get to the other side of the mountain within 48 hours. His doubt is in the horses that Kuroo took from his cousin. Would it be able to withstand 48 hours of continuous travel? 

“Nervous, your highness?” Kuroo stares at him as he mounts himself on the horse.

Kenma slides a look at his personal guard the moment he balances himself on top of the horse. “Why should I be? It’s just a quick hunt, anyway.”

A squire walks next to Kenma with a bow on his hands, cleaned and refined from when he last used it three months ago. Hunting’s a very enjoyable hobby for him; it’s far from the palace, away from its strict rules and policies, and the only law is nature itself. There are no ranks outside of these palace walls, certainly there are no assurances that he’d be able to make it out. But he knows for sure that he’d miss this little hobby, the little luxuries he’s had for a couple of years, and the friends he’s made along the way.

“Your highness?” Kuroo calls him and Kenma snaps out of his gaze, taking the bow from the squire’s hands. “Where are we off to?”

“To Mount Hulao.” Kenma announces. His personal guard nods in acknowledgment and the squire takes it as his cue to step out.

They’re definitely not going that way.

* * *

“You went quite emotional back there, didn’t you?” Kuroo says as they enter the Guyun Stone Forest.

Large stone pillars float through the islands of the forest, making a seemingly six foot tall Kuroo look like an ant before the humongous rock formations. “Did I?” he exclaims.

Kuroo pulls on the reign lazily of the palace horse, feeling bad that high quality and well-trained horses had to die in order for them to cover their tracks. “I saw how you looked at that bow, Kenma.”

“What about it?”

“You were sad.” He says as a matter of fact. “You just do that thing with your eyes when you’re sad, you know?”

“Guess I’d just miss hunting.” He shrugs off, tugging on his horse and getting ahead of Kuroo.

“We’d have a lot of hunting ahead of us once we get out of here and settle into a better place. I know it’s hard to leave home, your highness. It’s not easy to get out of the place you’ve grown up with. It’s never easy to leave everything and start anew. I know how it feels.”

Kenma’s grateful he’s in front of Kuroo or else he would have seen the sudden flash of expression on the Prince’s face. There’s a paint of sadness yet an inexplicable excitement to it. He feels like a bird finally out of his cage and the world is the huge sky he has not prepared for a long flight. It’s way too expanse for someone who has only learned how to fly inside horizontal steel bars.

“It’s not home.” He manages to spit out. “The palace isn’t home. It feels strange, the entirety of my life I’ve felt like a stranger in that place. But thanks to you—”

“To me?” Kuroo feels that loud thud on his chest, a feeling so familiar he’s excused it for all types of things.

“Yeah, thanks to you I found someone I could always talk to. You’re my friend, of course. My only friend in that place.”

_ Oh. _ “R-right.” Kuroo says, grateful that Kenma isn’t looking or else he’d be making fun of the creeping blush on his face. “We should... we should do something about your hair.”

Kenma’s hand raises up to subconsciously touch his hair. Right. His gold hair is a deadly giveaway. It’s only common among royalties to be born with light colored locks. Commoners never had gold hair, as far as Kenma knows. “Are you going to cut my hair?” He asks with a defensive tone in his voice.

“No!” his personal guard exclaims. “I was thinking of looking for lead the moment we get out of this forest. Lead is good as a temporary coloring.”

“Yeah. This gold hair will be too much of an attention grab—”

“Kenma.” Kuroo suddenly appears in front of him, and Kenma almost makes his horse panic as he tugs violently on it, a reaction to Kuroo suddenly being so near. “Don’t move.”

Kenma calms his horse down, instructing it to stop as he slowly taps its shoulders. Oh. So this is the part where they pretend to be attacked, don’t they? It’s been what Kenma’s planned. Kill the horses, they break his bow and then he and Kuroo go to the hill where Bokuto’s waiting with the escape horses that Kuroo borrowed.

“I see.” Kenma says, excitement in his eyes.

“Your highness, no this is not—”

Kenma shrieks as his horse suddenly collapses on one foot, the animal neighing in sudden pain. The prince falls to the ground and Kuroo is quick to jump from his ride, body covering Kenma as he hunch over him. “Kuroo, you took being attacked way too literally.” He says as he looks up at his personal guard who has worry painted all over his face.

“Y-Your highness, I’m afraid we’re still kilometers away from where my cousin and I planned to stage our attack. The hills we talked about are on the other side of that stone pillar and—”

An arrow whips past a hair strand away from Kuroo’s cheek that shuts him from talking. Both of their horses panic and run away from them, knocking down Kuroo on the ground. He turns back and sees a soldier wearing the same uniform and badge as him. His eyebrows furrow at the presence of the man. Is this an assassination attempt at the Prince? How did he follow them at the Guyun Stone Forest? Could someone have been spying at them? Or did they just follow him and the Prince all the way here?

“Your highness, stay put.” Kuroo warns. However, the moment the personal guard finishes his sentence, the Prince has already thrown an arrow at the uniformed soldier’s chest. Kenma’s way too fast that Kuroo almost didn’t see him reaching for an arrow at his back and aiming with his bow. The assassin drops on the floor, and Kuroo’s mouth grows to a huge circle as he looks at Kenma.

“How dare that soldier fly an arrow at you?” Kenma exclaims, holding Kuroo by his shoulders and examining his personal guard. Seeing that his personal guard has not been harmed, Kenma releases Kuroo and sighs in relief. “Are you okay?” Kenma asks.

He doesn’t know if he’d be shaken by the sudden interruption of an assassin, or from Kenma shooting someone with his arrow. Kuroo nods at him as an assurance, feeling strange at how the moment they step out of the palace, suddenly it’s Kenma now who’s protecting him when it was his sworn duty to protect the prince in the first place.

“I’m good. But I’m afraid our horses have escaped, your highness.” 

“Oh.” Kenma says, only realizing now that their only way to get to where the other horses are have actually run away. “Then, shall we walk?”

The prince reaches out his hand and Kuroo stares at it for a couple of seconds. He places his hand above Kenma’s, blood rushing up to his cheeks. “Your h-highness, I...”

“It’s slippery. And I need someone to guide me.” Kenma tries to look away but Kuroo also catches a glimpse of the red streak on his cheek.

Kuroo smiles to himself and presses the Prince’s hand. “Let’s go. It should take us a couple of hours if we start now.”

* * *

It’s been an hour since they started walking towards the other end of the stone pillar, but Kenma has never released Kuroo’s hand. The guard is starting to feel conscious of how sweaty his hand is next to the Prince, but Kenma doesn’t mind.

Kenma doesn’t care at all. If there’s anything he’d never let go of, it would be Kuroo’s hand. He’s had years of his life to explore the Guyun Stone Forest during his hunts, he knows his way around. But he feels like it’s better to get lost like this, with Kuroo beside him and holding his hand.

“I do not want to get married.” Kenma says in the middle of their trek. Kuroo looks at him and he continues, “I do not want to get married because all my life I’ve only loved one person.”

“Oh.” Kuroo nods, unable to grasp why the Prince is telling him that now.

“Leaving everything behind is hard, yes. I was sad. It is sad leaving everything you’ve had for the past 25 years, but there’s nothing more that makes me happier than finally getting out of the grasp that held me back for so long.” Kenma surveys the trees before him. Tall and brooding, seemingly unfriendly to everyone coursing through the forest.

“Why’d you leave then? Why leave the person you love?” Kuroo asks, deep in thought and refusing to meet the Prince in the eyes.

“That’s one thing I’ll never do, Kuroo.” He says. “This is why I brought you along.”

Kuroo stops in his tracks and Kenma gets tugged back by their hands held tightly together.

“W—”

“I can’t believe you, your highness.” Kuroo shakes his head with such a wide grin, eyes forming into crescents that Kenma has always loved. “You could’ve just told me you wanted to elope and I would’ve married you right then and there. Then we’d do the same thing. We’d run away together. We’d trek through these stone pillars. Fight assassins sent after us. Get to the other side of the mountain. Then I’d... I... Wow.”

“Then you would do what?” The smile that appears on Kenma’s face makes Kuroo’s chest swell with so much warmth.

“Then I’d kiss you behind these trees. Only these stone pillars would be our witness.” Kuroo inches closer to Kenma, hand on top of his still refusing to let go.

“You do know, that by royal decree you must stay true to your words? Or I shall brand you a traitor and—”

Unable to finish his sentence, Kuroo seals Kenma’s lips with his. A quick kiss just enough to feel the warmth on the Prince’s lips, but long enough to feel the twist on his stomach.

“Punish me all you want, your highness.” Kuroo says as he pulls back. “Punish me all day long and I’ll still run to you like a lost dog. The years I’ve been away from the people I know felt like seconds because of you. I want to do that for you this time. I’ll make sure you won’t notice you’ve been away from the palace, I’ll make sure time will pass by and things will feel normal. We’ll be okay. You’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of that.”

Kenma pulls Kuroo in for another kiss. This time, slower. This time, there is no more hesitation.

“And I’ll make sure I’d be right by your side all the time. No more personal guard or any stupid title. Just you and me. Together.” Kenma says, as the taller puts his lip on his forehead.

“Guess you’re stuck with me.”

“Guess I am.” Kenma laughs.

“So how about we get to the other end of this pillar now, Kenma? I’m getting a little hungry.”

Kenma looks at Kuroo, still feeling that tug on his chest every time he’d call him by his name. “Then, shall we start our first hunt together?”

“Exciting. But whoever doesn’t get to hunt any food should cook dinner.” Kuroo challenges.

“Start looking for spices then.” Kenma chuckles as he runs away from Kuroo, heartbeat pounding to the excitement of hunting again and a new life ahead of him.

What’s there to be scared of, anyway? He’s with the person he loves and only the stone pillars are their witness.

“Kenma!” Kuroo calls as Kenma starts to run away.

“What?!” The Prince shouts back.

“Be careful out there.” Kuroo warns. “I love you!”

Kenma stops on his feet, then shows Kuroo a very bright smile meters apart. “I know.” He whispers to himself. “I love you too!” He shouts back to Kuroo’s figure, laughing to himself.

This is the freedom he’s always wanted. Hunting with Kuroo, kissing Kuroo behind these tall trees, finally admitting the feelings he’s always tried to ignore. He never intended to hide it for so long. It has always been there in the first place. It just happened that their hearts connected the way they want to, where words are not needed in each other’s presence to express what they feel.

“I love you, Kuroo.” Kenma repeats, smile not leaving his lips. “I love you.”

Now, those are the words he’s intending to say at his own wedding. Not some royalty’s name he hasn’t known for even a week. 

He loves Kuroo’s familiarity. He loves Kuroo’s presence. He loves Kuroo. Not as a personal guard. Not even just as a childhood friend. Just silly Kuroo, trying to work on everything to follow Kenma’s every order, and those orders he didn’t say. Just the thoughtful Kuroo, who knows how he feels just with a quick look on his face. Just Kuroo, who he can love outside the palace walls. No titles between them. No stupid rules and no stupid policies.

Just the two of them. Together.


End file.
